Comparative Literature | Intro to Popular Culture: Ghosts/the Undead
C151 | 6027 | Ju Young Jin
TR 1:00 -2:15 pm
Fulfills CS and A& H Credit
What do they want from us? Why won’t they just die? What can they
tell us about ourselves and the world we inhabit? Why are we
repelled by and fascinated with them at the same time?
In this course, we will examine figures of the undead/ ghosts to
generate a critical perspective about the persistence of zombies,
vampires and other supernatural beings in popular culture.
We will pay attention to the ways in which the undead intersects
with our conceptualization of the future, reexamination of traumatic
past, cultural anxieties such as sexual agency and infiltration of
foreign bodies/immigrants and our fundamental fear of disorientation
of the self.
While this course emphasizes contemporary cultural expressions of
the undead, we will also discuss the vicissitudes of the
supernatural in historical contexts by looking at Japanese horror
stories and American gothic literature.
Assignments include two short essays, midterm and final exam.
If you have questions, please email email@example.com.